


Uncharted

by makoheadrush



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Chocobos, Exploration, Materia, Post Advent Children, Time Travel, buddy fic, post OG, what if...
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-09-01 11:40:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20257513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makoheadrush/pseuds/makoheadrush
Summary: This was written for VorpalGirl for the FF7 central fanworks exchange, and below is a snippet of the prompt.[Prompt -  Reeve discovers or gets his hands somehow on a magical or Sufficiently Advanced Technology item exotic enough to intrigue him. Will curiosity kill the cat... or will satisfaction bring it back?]So, with all that in mind, here we have a post Advent Children setting in which Reeve's curiosity about the island where Cloud found the Knights of the Round materia gets the better of him; he somehow coaxes Cloud into some scouting and exploration to see if there is anything else 'of interest' on the island.





	Uncharted

**Author's Note:**

  * For [VorpalGirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/VorpalGirl/gifts).

> First off, a note - as stated above this was my fic assignment for VorpalGirl for the FF7 Central fanworks exchange. I'd submitted it to the collection in its entirety on the due date. Unfortunately, for some reason, only ONE chapter appeared to be uploaded, and that one chapter did not fulfill the word count. Except...in reality, I’d actually uploaded three chapters/3800 words! The already-submitted chapter then just vanished - poof!- before I had a chance to remedy the situation, and at that point I was on vacation and 1100 miles away from my laptop! I am very sorry for this delay, but hope that you enjoy the story nonetheless.
> 
> And, an additional note - this WAS originally a three chapter story, however...once I sank my teeth into things, I realized I had way more story than I had initially anticipated. Reeve does have a tendency to drag things on and on...
> 
> So, i rewrote things a bit and made the first three chapters more of a springboard for what’s to come. Hope you enjoy this, and the chapters yet to come!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following Meteorfall, the Planet is relatively peaceful - a certain engineer finds himself growing restless, and seeks adventure. He enlists help from an unlikely source.

If Reeve had not seen that fabled materia itself, he would not have believed it even existed. But there it was, inserted in the hilt of Cloud’s newest sword, the first Tsurugi. The Buster Sword had been rescued from obscurity, polished and restored to its former glory, and left marking the spot where Zack had made his last stand.

Reeve had long wondered just _how_ Cloud had obtained Knights of the Round, and one day – long after Sephiroth and the remnants had been dispatched – over a couple of drinks, he got the story out of him. 

“Well, its not exactly on any _map_,” Cloud began, irritatingly vague and indifferent, much to Reeve’s frustration. The engineer nodded, and frowned. This was not a satisfactory answer for Reeve; he wanted to know more. _Much_ more.

“Yet you found it,” Reeve interjected, ever patient – or, doing a damned good job of faking it, anyway. “You found _an uncharted Island_. And a materia which I thought was…just a myth, a legend.” 

Cloud smiled, and tapped the hilt of his sword, his Knights of the Round materia inserted snugly within one of its slots. “No myth,” he replied briefly, smile cracking wider. 

‘So…was there anything _else_ there besides the materia?” Reeve pressed further. “_In_ the cave?” Tuesti drew his brows together in a deep frown, one could almost see his wheels turning as he was pondering the possibilities…the _potential_. Other than his engineering pursuits, Reeve somewhat fancied himself an amateur archaeologist, going on digs in Bone Village just for fun. This – a virtually unexplored, uncharted island – and one as yet unsullied by ShinRa, inc. – this intrigued Reeve more than anything he could recall in recent memory. 

“Anything else?” Cloud echoed, shrugging his shoulders. “I mean – Reeve, it _was_ kind of a while ago. I remember going into the cave, saw the materia and just grabbed it. I didn’t really go…_exploring_ all that much.”

Reeve sighed heavily. “A missed opportunity, Cloud,” he replied. There was no hiding the disappointment in his voice. “I mean, who knows? There could have been…other materia in there. Or someone may have dropped a weapon, or some armor – “

Cloud sighed, regarding Reeve somewhat warily. Though Reeve had proven himself to be trustworthy in the end, his past affiliation with ShinRa still set Cloud on edge somewhat. He wondered, really, if Reeve wasn’t trying to scope out other unexplored corners of the Planet, scouting for alternate sources of energy. Hell, Barret had been doing the same himself, traversing the Planet and looking for oil. 

“What exactly are you looking for, Reeve?” Cloud asked, voice tinged with suspicion. “Don’t tell me you’re planning on looking for a mako reserve or some crap like that – “

“No!” Reeve interrupted, shaking his head. “No, not at all! Cloud….don’t you think I _know_ better than that?” His face fell, thoughts drifting to his mother, Ruvie - imagining what her last moments must have been like, before a massive wave of Lifestream washed over her, causing a terminal case of geostigma.

She’d died the next day; Reeve only wished he’d been able to prevent Meteor from happening in the first place, then none of this would have happened. No geostigma, no Sephiroth, no remnants - but Reeve knew it was futile to wish for things to be different. Still, he blamed himself somewhat, for his mother’s death, and the deaths of countless others.

“I want nothing more to do with mako energy, or disrupting the flow of the Lifestream,” Reeve emphasized. “You know as well as I do – well, we’ve both seen what harm can come of trying to manipulate the forces of nature.” Sighing, he drained the rest of his tea from a small porcelain cup, setting it back on the counter, empty. “I just want to explore – if there’s anything to explore. There’s still so much we don’t know Cetra history, and Aerith – “Reeve stopped short, a rueful look upon his face.

“I’m sorry, Cloud. I know how her loss affected you – affected all of us – “

Cloud nodded, shrugging his shoulders; suddenly he looked (and felt) very heavy and tired. “It’s fine, Reeve. I mean – I guess I’ve come to terms with it. Sort of. But I still blame myself. I wish things could’ve turned out differently.”

“Of course,” Reeve nodded in understanding. “We all do. But please know, Cloud – it’s not your fault. I can’t stress that enough, and I apologize if I’ve seemed insensitive.”

“Nah, you haven’t,” Cloud replied, suddenly standing up, glancing at the clock on the wall behind Reeve. “Listen – I’ve got a delivery run to make, but if you’re really serious about wanting to check out that island…”

Reeve sat up suddenly, unable to keep the eagerness out of his voice. “Yes?”

Cloud laughed. “Well – maybe I can help you out. It was a fun trip, really.” He recalled riding the golden chocobo over land and sea just to get there, defying the laws of physics; it really _had_ been quite a rush. In the years since Cloud’s first trip to the Round Island, several _more_ Golden chocobos had been bred under the watchful eye of Choco Billy at the Chocobo Ranch, with Cloud helping to train and race them on his days off. 

“I can _probably_ get a hold of a pair of golden chocobos.” Cloud let that drop casually, sounding almost nonchalant. “You know, now that there’s more than _one_ golden on the Planet now.”

“_Really_?” Reeve’s grin split wide, from ear to ear. “I would love to.” Tuesti felt his spirits lift instantly; the prospect of adventure, of breaking out of his daily grind, leaving the city for parts unknown gave him a little jolt of a thrill. 

“Gotta run, but I’ll be in touch,” Cloud announced as he made his exit, signaling his departure with a casual wave of his hand, leaving Reeve to daydream about his next amateur archaeologist adventure.


End file.
